Libya’s media revolution one year on: Now what?
The revolution in Libya might never have happened if not for the media. Al Jazeera and other international media played a key role in convincing the outside world that its help was needed. But the role of “new Libyan media” at a local and national level remains more important than ever
By Torben Brandt, IMS
Already in late January 2011 the new Libyan media began showing its impact to the world, when the writer, political commentator and accountant, Jamal al-Hajji called on the Internet for demonstrations to be held in “support of greater freedom in Libya” inspired by the Tunesian and Egyptian revolutions. Soon after, on 15 February 2011, the novelist Idris Al-Mesmari was arrested hours after giving an interview to Al Jazeera about the police response to protests in Benghazi.
In the first days of the revolution, 17-18 February, the Libyan protesters seized Gadaffi’s local radio stations in many cities. But what is not very well known to the outside world, is that a group of activists in this same space of time made a historic achievement, by collecting and downloading all footage from the demonstrations and fights recorded by the citizens of Benghazi on their mobile phones and digital cameras. Everything was registered with date and time of the recording, including the contact data of those who recorded it.
This meant that when the international media finally, after weeks, gained access to Benghazi, they were invited to make use of the terabytes of documentation sampled on a server in the international pressroom in the “17th of February Media Centre” in the old courthouse in Benghazi. Because of the careful registration of the material hundreds of international journalists had quick and easy access to verification of sources and a chance to work more in-depth.
New media or “rats”?
The government on their side called the new media and Al Jazeera “rats” and closed down the Internet in early March. On 12 March it became clear how much of a threat to Gadaffi the “new media” was, when unidentified gunmen shot and killed the Al-Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan al-Jabar, alongside the killing and detainment of several other journalists.
The biggest media hero in the revolution was Mohammed Nabbous. Widely regarded as the most influential local journalist covering the popular uprising in Libya, he provided a steady stream of eyewitness accounts. He posted round-the-clock raw footage and commentary from the rebel-held city of Benghazi, for thousands of viewers worldwide and foreign reporters through his still existing Libya Alhurra TV (Free Libya TV).Mohammed Nabbous, the hero
Mohammed Nabbous’ last report for the station was streamed live on Saturday morning 19 March, as government forces continued to pound Benghazi with artillery shells in an effort to seize control of the city. He appeared to have been shot by pro-Gaddafi troops while recording a report, dying a short time after.
But soon media outlets of all kinds were mushrooming in Benghazi and other Libyan cities. In May/June the amount of media outlets reached more than one hundred in Benghazi alone.
War with limited local coverage
Following this “Libyan spring”, came summer and early autumn, and the media war continued, but with limited local media access to the battle fields. It is unclear why only the international media was given fairly free access to cover the civil war, while local media only had limited access. But this means that while the start of the revolution was extremely well documented by local media and citizens, the documentation of the second part of the civil war predominantly remains with the international media.
Back to work?
Following the fall of Tripoli and General Gadaffi’s death in October, the process of returning to everyday life began. Large parts of the new media sector had up to this point been run by volunteering students and professionals such as engineers, dentists, lawyers. They were now all confronted with the choice of staying with the media or going back to their work and studies. The result was a dwindling media sector with only those most committed staying with the media. At the same time new media players showed up, while old ones closed down, leaving those who chose to stay in a fragile and unpredictable position.
On a new road to professionalisation
Today, one year on, the media landscape is more stable and it is time to meet the challenge of professionalising the media and adjusting to a democratic approach.
In this context, a wide range of international media organizations, such as IMS, Doha Centre for Media Freedom of, Internews, Article 19, WAN, IFJ, Deutsche Welle, AMARC, are already offering support and training, a process that also involves support to the important development of media laws. To navigate between all these offers can be a challenge for the young Libyan media, but a range of these organisations have created a network aiming to synchronise and quickly respond to the needs expressed by the local media sector.
The media in Libya is still waiting impatiently for a process of discussing and implementing new Libyan press/media laws and governmental bodies to collaborate with the media sector. But all in all, a year on from the start of the revolution, Libya is seeing a new and freer media sector growing and an improved level of freedom of expression in general.As the first media development NGO on the ground, IMS has, by listening to local voices and collaborating closely with this large network of media organisations, given high priority to the local media’s own need for training and support. A media training centre was one of the early explicit needs vocalised by local media. In close collaboration with other international media organisations, such a centre is currently being prepared.
The international society is watching this process and through local partnerships and a concerted effort in helping professionalisation, it is also ready and able to provide the support needed to make the Libyan dream of full freedom a reality.
